can't punch one's way out of a paper bag

can't punch (one's) way out of a paper bag

Extremely weak, ineffectual, or incompetent. You want to fight me? You can't punch your way out of a paper bag! Don't assign that project to her, she couldn't punch her way out of a paper bag!See also: bag, of, out, paper, punch, way

can't punch one's way out of a paper bag

Be inept, as in Ask him to program the VCR? He can't punch his way out of a paper bag. This hyperbolic term for extreme ineptitude originally was an expression of contempt for a weak or cowardly boxer. [Slang; c. 1910] See also: bag, of, out, paper, punch, way